Anger Management
by PotatoJesus
Summary: After all is said and done, the titans nothing more than a bad memory, the squad finds themselves in possession of two very angry, homicidal men who have nothing to do but rage at the world. It takes seven tries, but finally they find the one solution to their problem.


**A/N: Just a little one-shot I came up with on my way back home from dinner with my roommate. **

* * *

Levi signed the last piece of paper he'd ever have to that involved titans.

It felt strange, and he looked over the report of their last battle one more time, feeling a little purposeless now that it was all over. He had honestly thought he would never see the end of this. As he folded the paper up and slipped it into an envelope to be filed away with the rest of their accounts, he wondered what life had in store for him next.

Maybe he could relax… read that book Petra recommended long ago… go out and explore the new land… that sounded nice. Maybe find a quiet forest to settle down in, one filled with big ass trees to fly through-

"Eren!" Mikasa's unusually high pitched voice shrieked through the once silent castle.

Levi was on his feet and out the door, his body moving on pure instinct while his thoughts lingered back in his office. When he flung open the nearest window, one foot already perched on the ledge, poised to jump and use the 3DM gear to reach the ground, he paused. There, in the middle of the courtyard, Eren was running around…

Raging.

"2-meter class!"

"E-Eren!" Armin held his hands palm up, "We're not titans! We're humans!"

"3-meter class!"

Erwin sidestepped the teen that was blinded by pure anger, calling out, "You're not even measuring heights right anymore!"

Levi sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose before calmly swooping down into the courtyard. Recently, Eren had been twitching and spasming constantly. Hanji said it was an intense form of PTSD: his whole life, Eren had directed his only emotion - rage - at the titans. Now he didn't have a valid target and that rage was building up. The brat had no idea how to calm the fuck down except by killing something. Apparently, he'd now decided to make that something other people. So Levi just calmly breathed in, telling himself to go easy on the brat, that it wasn't his fault, that he was just an innocent kid-

"1 meter class!"

"Eren! That's Corporal Levi!"

Fuck innocence, that kid was going to get his ass kicked.

"Oi! Come say that to my face, brat!"

"TITANS!"

Levi unsheathed his swords.

"Levi- No!"

* * *

Erwin sighed, eyes flicking between the two men sitting sullenly in front of his desk. "Alright… The two of you need to go through some intense… Hanji, what was it?"

"Anger management therapy."

"Yes. Anger management therapy. The entire corp has been notified of this, and they are coming up with various ways to calm you down. You _must_ comply with all of them and you _must_ attempt to relax…"

"I was pretty fucking relaxed till this brat decided to lose his shit-" Levi grumbled until Eren interrupted him.

"You. Cut off. My arms."

"You attacked me thinking I was a titan, and you healed anyway, so stop whining."

"Both of you, just stop...now." Erwin begged carefully, his words slow and calm, not wanting to agitate either man any more. "Please. Just… try? Okay?"

"...Fine." Each man pouted in their own way, looking in opposite directions of one another.

"Alright… Hanji already has a list of things you can do."

"Oh, good…" Levi rolled his eyes.

* * *

**Trial 1: Hot Springs**

Armin sunk down into the water, "You see, I'd read a book on these beforehand. They're said to be really calming, you just have to sort of sit back and relax."

Levi sniffed in suspicion, "You sure these things are clean?"

"No one's been here in for hundreds of years, heichou!" Connie jumped into the water, "I'm sure it's as clean as it's gonna get."

"That's not exactly helpful…" Levi shrugged out of his shirt and dipped into the water. "Get in, Jaeger, this is meant to calm _you_ down."

"Alright…" Eren gently slipped into the spring and sat there, a light frown on his face. They all waited patiently.

Finally, Armin couldn't take it any longer, "So Eren, what do you think?"

"It smells… Like titans!" He jumped up from the water, rage filling his eyes.

"Damn…" Levi sighed. And he was just starting to relax…

* * *

**Trial 2: Tea**

Hanji set the cups of tea down in front of Eren and Levi before returning to her seat by Erwin and Mike. "I brewed this especially for you two. I found some books about these herbs in one of the abandoned libraries, and I think they're perfect for easing all that tension."

Levi sipped at his for a while, peaking over every now and then at Eren. The boy took a couple minutes to stare at the cup in his hands before he finally took small sips. When Levi finished, he set the glass on the desk and eased back into his chair, the stress almost tangibly seeping from his bones. He flicked his eyes over to Eren again.

Erwin, leaning over the other side of the table intently, asked "So?"

Eren's brow creased in thought, "It's warmth… Is that of a titan's!"

Hanji leapt up, a large grin splitting her features, "Truly!? That is fascinating! Tell me how!"

Levi tensed up again when Erwin leapt up to try and hold Hanji back, "Hanji! Please, don't encourage him!"

So much for that…

* * *

**Trial 3: Snuggle blanket**

Levi played with the edges of the blanket he had around his shoulders, experimenting with snuggling back into the couch's cushions, "Why are we doing this again?"

Mikasa unravelled another blanket, fresh from being warmed by the fireside, and quickly wrapped Eren in it so it didn't lose it's heat. "It's what we used to do as kids to keep warm in the winter. That was usually the calmest I'd ever seen Eren, so I thought it might be helpful." She helped Eren sit down into the couch and bundled him up tighter before stepping back. "How is that, Eren? Does it feel any better?"

Levi, his back muscles finally losing their tension as he eased deeper into the cushions, eyes drooping slightly, barely noted Eren as he began to talk.

"It's like a cocoon… like that memory… from when... I was in titan form!"

The tension rushed back into him, jolting him, and Levi groaned in annoyance as the boy beside him jumped off the couch. He rubbed his eyes, hearing crashing sounds and Eren yelling something about 'being born to this world' and Armin shouting, "No! Eren! Don't light the house on fire!"

* * *

**Trial 4: Homecooked breakfast**

"You really think that this will work?" Levi asked, taking the plate Jean offered him.

"Yes!" Jean took the other dish to Eren. "Having a home cooked breakfast is always a great way to start the day."

Eren began to eat the omelette, while Levi took the chance to think about how nice and safe it made him feel having people who cared this much about him to cook breakfasts for him, bundle him up, make him tea-

"So, how is it, Eren?" Jean asked.

"It's very good… It reminds me of my mother…" Levi set his fork down and stood up, knowing what was about to come, "I shall avenge her!"

Anger flowed through Levi like fire, once again having been on the verge of relaxation when this brat just _had_ to go and ruin it. "You already did that! Oh, hell no! Don't you dare try to stab me with that knife, Jaeger!"

* * *

**Trial 5: Let him fly**

Erwin looked resigned, "Just to let out some rage. It might help him. It's just Sina, and you'll be there in case anything happens."

"I don't know about that, Erwin…" Levi tilted his head, glancing towards the boy who was putting on his 3DM gear with practiced ease.

"Levi…"

"Fine." He turned to Eren, "Alright, brat. We're gonna patrol Sina for a bit. I better not see you trying to kill any innocents." The boy's face lit up and he jogged to Levi's side as the man walked towards the city.

Erwin watched them go, waving pleasantly at their retreating figures.

It wasn't two hours later that Levi burst into his office, dragging a flailing Eren by the back of the neck and tossing him roughly into a chair. "He ran around attacking civilians shouting about 2-meter class titans again!"

Erwin just let his eyes close and his forehead dip down towards his desk.

* * *

**Trial 6: Reading**

Armin and Levi were searching through the vast resources of books in the Corp's now ever-expanding library. The older man looked up as the younger balanced on a ladder, glancing through titles on the seventh row, "How will this help?"

"Eren always loved hearing about the outside world."

"Can't he just read the damn thing himself?"

"Uh, Corporal… Eren can't read."

"What? His dad was a doctor for fuck's sake."

"A doctor who was never around."

"Why didn't you teach him?"

"He… didn't respond well to it."

Levi sighed, scratching the back of his head. At least all the times Eren pushed away any reports on their missions made sense now. He felt a little bad about it, wondering if there were anything he could do to make it up to the kid.

"Ah! Here! I found a book about the ocean! He'll love that!"

"Alright, let's go read it to him."

They found Eren waiting quietly, hands in his lap, right where they'd left him in a lounge room. He'd been resistant to the idea of being alone until Levi had ordered him to stay put, which was when he'd taken on the guise of a chastised child. Those lost eyes flicked up from the ground to meet Levi's and a small smile broke his somber expression, as if the brat had truly believed Levi would just walk out of that room and never return.

Armin sat next to Eren on the sofa, book open so his friend could see the pictures. As he began to read aloud from the book, Levi moved to a chair set across the table from the couch, making himself comfortable. Eventually, other members of the Corp filtered in, interested to hear what was being read. As his family gathered around him, Levi felt almost content. When he wondered why the word 'almost,' came to mind, he glanced to Eren. He could sense that the boy was itching inside, trying valiantly to control the anger within.

Soon, he noticed that Eren was losing his inner battle, and his eyes began to fog over. One of the pictures or sentences triggered something and suddenly, Eren whispered, "Oi, Armin…"

"Hm? Yeah, Eren?"

"We need to go outside the wall… And kill all the titans!"

"We did that, Eren!"

A collective groan of defeat rang throughout the room, and Levi felt like a dozen daggers were sliding under his skin, fraying the last of his nerves.

* * *

**Trial 7: Levi's solution**

"That's it." Levi stood up after this latest outburst, in front of everyone, his eyes catching the light and reflecting it back like fire. "I'm done. I'm fucking done with this." He advanced threateningly on Eren, who was having his usual relapse.

Mikasa gasped and lunged for him, moving to hold him back. Erwin caught her with a firm hand on her shoulder, but still she struggled against his vice-like grip and screamed, "What are you going to do?!"

Levi reached for the knife he always kept at his belt, "He's too dangerous. We can't keep letting him run around like this."

Erwin warned, "Levi…"

"I know, I don't want to do this either, but it must be done."

As Levi walked up to Eren, the boy's eyes cleared again and he seemed confused, glancing from the knife in Levi's hand to the man himself with unease, "What are you doing, heichou?" Betrayal laced his words, twisting something inside Levi's chest.

"Don't you touch him-" Mikasa shouted, finally slipping from Erwin's hold, but not soon enough. Levi dropped the knife on the table and scooped Eren up into his arms before falling backwards onto the couch without grace. "What…?" Mikasa muttered.

"Heichou…?" Eren looked down at Levi, who rolled his eyes, looking away. A barely noticeable flush brushed the tips of the man's cheeks, try as he might to avoid eye contact, others still noticed the evidence of his embarrassment. With a small, understanding smile, Eren closed his eyes and ducked his head to rest it on Levi's shoulder.

Levi began gently rubbing circles on Eren's back, "Shh… sleep, brat. Everything is okay now."

Mikasa glanced at the knife, repeating herself, "What?"

"That thing is sharp, and I don't want to risk Jaeger shifting into a giant ass titan while I'm holding him." Levi explained, his hand moving to Eren's hair as the young man snuffled, in his sleep showing his discontent that Levi's attention had wandered away from him. Levi carded his fingers through Eren's hair, turning his head so his mouth was near his ear, shushing him. "I'm here, brat. It's okay."

"So cute!" Hanji squeed from the side of the room

"Shut up, shitty glasses. He's sleeping."

Mikasa whined, "But… _I _want to hold Eren…"

Armin laughed nervously, "It's okay, Mikasa, I think this is for the best right now."

Mikasa pouted, but eventually her expression faded to a small smile thrown in Eren's direction. People began to filter out of the room with muffled chuckles and laughter, back to their daily schedules, with Eren's sister being the last. She went up to Levi and her brother, whispering, "Thank you, Levi. I've never seen him look like that."

"Hm?" Levi peaked down at his shoulder, where the brat had the audacity to look like he was in heaven. "Oh. Whatever. As long as he's not being a menace I might as well do what I can."

Mikasa smiled knowingly and excused herself, leaving Levi and Eren to themselves. The boy continued to sleep and Levi felt the weight of the world finally lift from his shoulders. This time his tense shoulders eased fully, and his eyes fell closed.

As long as he could keep Eren happy, he would be as well.


End file.
